Just A Little Cliche
by DeepBlueSeaaa
Summary: Clark, a 17 year old, runs into a problem when Jonathan Shadowhunter High's most popular, arrogant, and annoying golden girl, Jaycee Wayland, becomes his art partner for the rest of junior year. Clark thinks that his world and Jaycee's world definitely don't mix, but when he gets to know little Miss Perfect, they might become friends, or even something more than that. (Genderswap)
1. Chapter 1

**Ahoy guys! Who's pumped for summer? I sure am. If anyone is testing in school right now, I wish you all loads of luck. Well... this is my first story on here, and I would really appreciate all reviews and feedback! So pretty please review! Enjoy!**

The calligraphy pen glided over the paper, creating a swirled matrix of intense color. Clark's hand moved with ease, sliding smoothly over the thick paper. His pale hand stopped with a small flick, and he set aside his pen, analyzing the project.

Satisfied, he set the paper on a stack beside him, the top of it almost reaching the jumble of red curls on his head. _174th invitation done._

He sighed and sat back in his chair, massaging his cramping hand. Clark has spent 4 weeks handwriting wedding invitations for some extra cash so he could pay for art school over the summer.

He was done for today though. With only 26 invitations left, he was sure he could finish before his deadline in two weeks.

Clark got up out of his chair and stretched, his hands not even close to reaching the ceiling in his room. He walked to the other side of his room, and pushed aside stacks of moving boxes so he could reach his old dresser.

Forcing the weathered drawer to open, Clark accidentally caught his sweater on the corner of the drawer and it ripped.

"Ugggghhhhh are you kidding me right now?" he mumbled, grabbing at the sweater with his hands, examining the hole. He pulled it off, revealing the black tee underneath, and threw it, hoping that it would land on his bed. Knowing his luck, he probably missed.

"Clark! Simone's here!" Clark's head turned at the sound of his dad's voice. It made sense, Simone came over practically every day. She was his best friend, after all.

He smiled when he heard her voice echoing through the hall that lead to his room.

"Wow, Mr. Fray, I really love what you've done with this painting. Is this supposed to represent Clark's flowing ginger locks? I think they capture their essence perfectly."

Clark shot back a reply after he heard his father's billowing laugh.

"Actually, it is supposed to represent the grace and elegance of your band. What are you guys now, the Eloquent Lemurs?"

He smirked, and his smile grew when he saw Simone dramatically throw herself against Clark's doorway, fanning herself frantically with her hand. She paused, and pushed her hipster-esque wire glasses down the bridge of her nose, focusing her soft brown eyes on his green ones.

"Well, that was uncalled for. And now we're Catastrophic Dishware." Simone plopped onto Clark's bed, and kicked off her black boots before laying down and spreading her arms out. "I'm loving this new apartment. It's so cute. But why isn't there an elevator? My poor little legs cannot endure this torture of climbing up to the 6th floor."

Clark back into his chair, and rolled it around so he faced her. "Dad is trying to convince me it will be useful, he said something about 'character' and 'increase in stamina'."

He rolled his eyes dramatically, and then shrugged. "I just cringe at the thought of having to journey down the stairs half asleep in the mornings on my way to school. Hopefully I don't end up with a concussion."

Simone picked her head up, and the corner of her mouth lifted slightly.

"On the topic of school," she started, "you're lucky that the move wasn't far enough that you have to switch. I know how much you love school with people like Jaycee and her bestie Alexis." Simone couldn't even get the sentence out without giggling.

Clark widened his eyes at the thought of Jaycee. The girl was- of course-the most popular girl at school. Thanks to her annoyingly luscious golden blonde hair and picture perfect body. Not to mention being the cheerleading captain. Jaycee has a teen mean girl cliche written all over her.

"Hardy har, Simone. It's bad enough that have to see her at school. Don't make my new room all Jaycee-ey. Bad voodoo," he scoffed.

Simone pushed herself up off the bed, looked at the clock on Clark's bedside table, and cursed under her breath.

"So I guess we actually have to start working now," she whined with a grumpy frown.

Clark knitted his brows and tilted his head, making his signature _I have no idea what you are talking about face._

Simone huffed, and pushed away the brown strand of hair that had fallen into her face. She tucked the lock behind her ear, and explained. "Mr. Blackthorn's science project? Due tomorrow? You might be partnering with, I don't know, a girl named Simone Lewis?"

Clark responded with a smirk. "Oooohhhhhhh _that's_ why you came over? I'm sorry that I forgot about our super exciting science project."

Simone laughed, stood up, and walked over to Clark's desk chair. She ruffled his hair, red hair curling around her fingers. She pulled over one of the big brown boxes that were scattered around his room, and she sat down next to him.

They spent the whole night working on the project, and Simone eventually walked home at about 2 in the morning.

Clark woke up with a pounding headache. He sat up, and remembered that he has to turn in the science project sitting on his desk. He groaned and threw the heavy covers off of him.

With the speed of a sloth, he got ready, trying to ease into the headache that was taking over his body. He shoved the project into his backpack.

Once he finished throwing on whatever clothes he found the cleanest, Clark walked out to the kitchen, and was surprised when he saw his dad, Jeremy, placing a bowl of fruit on the dining room table.

"You are a lifesaver." Clark praised. One look at the clock showed him that he was running late, and that Simone would show up right on time.

Once he finished scarfing down the watermelon and mango, Clark rushed toward the door, throwing his backpack over his shoulder. When he passed the pantry, he grabbed a granola bar and shoved it into his backpack. His stomach was not happy, it felt like a tsunami of chunky fruit in there. Clark just ignored it, hoping it would subside.

Simone was just walking up the steps of the porch when Clark opened the door. He yelled back in the house before closing the door.

"Bye Dad!"

Simone joined in by screaming, "Bye Mr. Fray have an amazing day!"

Jeremy waved back at the two, and then Clark shut the door.

Simone pivoted back towards the street, and they both started walking the short 4 block trip to Jonathan Shadowhunter High School.

After suffering through 3 periods, monstrous headache, and a queasy stomach, Clark finally saw the main thing that he tried to avoid at all costs. Jaycee Wayland. She was wearing her red cheerleading uniform, and was walking down the hall with her posse, Alexis and Isiah.

Jaycee's curly blonde hair was bouncing Loreal Paris style, and she had a sly smile on her pink lips. Her golden eyes shone while she was chatting with Alexis, who was wearing the same cheerleading uniform and was weaving her hand through her shoulder-length black hair, and her startling bright blue eyes were focused on the floor.

Isiah was next to Alexis, and their family resemblance was extremely apparent. They shared the same color hair, but Isiah's eyes were dark brown, almost black. He had a red polo shirt on, and a cheerleader Clark didn't know strapped to his arm.

They were too involved in their conversation, a fascinating one no doubt, to notice Clark, so he slipped into his next class, art.

This is where Clark really enjoyed school. He has drawn and painted ever since he could remember. Maybe it was because Jeremy loves painting, but Clark was at home when he drew.

So, he was ready to finally sit down and start working on the oil painting project that was assigned to his class last week.

Mr. Hodge, the art teacher, started off the class by passing out the watercolor paintings that they did last month. He smiled when he got to Clark's desk, and put down a gorgeous painting of Central Park. Clark flipped it over, and smiled when he saw a giant red 'A+'.

Clark's smile disintegrated when he saw a Miss USA clone lean on the doorway with a bored look on her face. Jaycee stood there, jutting her hip out, until Mr. Hodge took notice of her.

"Jaycee, being late on your first day is frowned upon in this class," he warned. Jaycee's eyes widened, and she plastered on a puppy dog face.

"I'm sorry Mr. Hodge, I had to fix my hair. It's hard to maintain this sea of luxurious goodness." She gestured to her 'luxurious goodness', and shrugged innocently.

Mr. Hodge rolled his eyes, and told Jaycee to sit down. Clark looked back down to his oil painting, glad that Jaycee would sit in the back, where the only spare seat was located. When Mr. Hodge spoke again, Clark wasn't really listening.

Next thing he knew, his old table partner was in the back and there a pair of glittering golden eyes staring back at him.

"Hiya! Clark, right? This is going to be fun," whispered little Miss Popular herself, Jaycee Wayland.

And that's when Clark threw up mango and watermelon all over his painting, and Jaycee.

 **Sooooooooo... Poor little Clark! Cliffhanger, I know... but I do love my cliffies. Review review review! All feedback is appreciated. Questions, comments, concerns, all welcome! Have an amazing week you guys!**

 **~M**


	2. Chapter 2

**Ahoy! Thank you for all the feedback, I really appreciate it. I'm surprised at all the reviews I got! To all my school friends out there, hang in there, it's almost summer!**

Previously: _And that's when Clark threw up mango and watermelon all over his painting, and Jaycee._

Jaycee didn't scream. All of the other girls (and a few boys, too) did scream, though. All she did was lean as far away from Clark as possible, with a surprised look on her tan face and her nose wrinkled up. It was kind of cute, actually...

Clark slapped himself internally. He had just thrown up in public. In school. In his favorite class. And partially on the most popular girl at school. The stuff had gotten all over him too, of course.

But the real reason for the internal slap was that he had just thought of Jaycee Wayland as 'cute'. Damn, his head was really messing with him.

After people had stopped screaming, Mr. Hodge stepped foreword with a look of terror on his face. "Oh, um, Clark, uhhh please take a pass and you can excuse yourself to the nurse's office."

Clark's cheeks burned, no doubt showing giant red splotches on his pale cheeks. He hung his head low, trying to hide his face with his mop of curly red hair. He stood up hastily, and slung his backpack over his shoulder. He took brisk steps towards the door, wanting to disappear from this situation as fast as possible.

He was almost out of the room when Mr. Hodge called after him.

"Oh, and take Jaycee with you so she can clean up."

Clark slumped and turned an even darker shade of red, if that was possible. He waited by the door, and watched Jaycee jump up from her chair, not bother to push it in, and sashay over to Clark. Her signature smirk was plastered on her face, and her hair still bounced, even though Clark could spot a few chunks of fruit in there.

"Much appreciated, Mr. Hodge," she praised, "I would hate to have people's vision of this," she gestured up and down her body with a manicured hand, "be interrupted by Clark's undigested food. I mean, the contents of your stomach _are_ charming, but I don't think it quite compliments my look today. But, if I was wearing my romper, you know, the one with the flowers, I think it would be a different story." She winked at Clark, and he gagged.

Mr. Hodge kind of mumbled a response, which Clark took as an excuse to turn around and start walking. He brushed a fallen curl away from his eye, and started shuffling towards the nurse's office so he could leave Jaycee.

Hearing high heeled boots stomp on the floor behind him confirmed Clark's worst fears. Jaycee was following him to the nurse, and not going to the bathroom to clean up. At the sound of his name coming out of her voice, he didn't even bother to turn around.

"Wow Clark," she said, "what the hell happened to your stomach? I mean, I know I'm hot, but I don't think I have made anyone nauseous before." Jaycee smirked... again. Was that the only facial expression she was capable of? Oh, wait, she had her ultra seductive look too.

Clark whipped around and shot back with a frozen glare. "Are you sure it's your hotness that made me sick? It could have been the 74 gallons of perfume you dumped on your cheer uniform after P.E."

Ok, maybe Clark over exaggerated a little bit. Even though he could smell Jaycee's perfume from a mile away, it was more intoxicating than sickening... intoxicating in a good way. She smelled kind of like sunshine. Clark had to internally slap himself again, he was thinking too much about how Jaycee smelled and not enough about the face she was currently making.

Once he had fully re-focused onto her face, annoyingly gorgeous as always, he almost laughed at the face she was making. Her eyebrows had quirked upwards, and her golden eyes had widened, causing her long lashes to touch her eyelids. Her supple lips had frozen while they were slightly open.

As quickly as the face has come, it disappeared. Jaycee recovered quickly, obviously not used to being talked back to. Meanwhile, Clark was proud of this small accomplishment. He smiled to himself all the way to nurse's office, even while Jaycee stomped in front of him, swinging her hips smoothly in silence.

They both sat in small metal chairs that occupied the little cramped room. Clark sat crouched over with his head down, and he picked at his short nails. Jaycee leaned back in her chair and crossed her left leg over her right. She passed time by staring at the gray walls and tapping her foot on the floor, which was annoying the hell out of Clark.

He was about to jump up and hug the nurse when she walked in. He sat up straight, and sighed in relief.

The school nurse was wearing normal clothes, and she looked at Clark and Jaycee's barfed-on clothes, then she cocked her head. Clark blushed and became extremely interested in the tops of his shoes. Meanwhile, Jaycee just tossed her blonde curls over her shoulder and rolled her eyes, which were just a couple shades darker than her hair.

She spoke for Clark, telling the nurse what happened, and at first he was somewhat grateful. That feeling stopped when she summed up the story with, "And then Clark puked up his insides all over me and embarrassed himself in front of his whole art class."

He shot her his iciest glare, but she only smirked at him...for the 1000th time. Does she think that he isn't annoyed? Or are his red hair and freckles not intimidating? Maybe his height was the problem. Clark and Jaycee were extremely close to the same height. So much so that Clark hoped that no one ever brought it up. Even Simone... and she made height references 24/7.

The nurse nodded (Clark thought that her name was Mrs. Roberson), and she waddled back to the back room without saying anything.

Clark and Jaycee stayed sitting in the chairs, and Jaycee broke the silence by taking notice of Clark's shirt.

"What in the world is 'Lemur Deathbed'?" she asked. Her voice sounded mocking, but her eyes gave the illusion that she actually wanted to know. "Is it some sort of torturous killing chamber for wayward zoo animals?" Ok, there was definitely a teasing tone in her voice now.

Clark had to look down at his shirt to see what she was talking about. He was wearing one of Simone's first band tees. He gave up on buying them a while ago, since their name changes so often.

"Oh. It's one of my friend's bands." Clark didn't really offer more of an explanation, Jaycee didn't need to know everything about him and Simone. Or anything, really. It's not like Jaycee and Clark were going to become besties after this whole 'incident'.

"Ahhh." she mumbled. She smacked her lips together and tilted her head. "Simone is the girl who you hang out with who looks like a rat, right?"

Clark wasn't really ready for that. He snapped back at Jaycee, bubbling with anger because this Barbie doll called his best friend a rat. "Simone is not at all a rat, you are just jealous because she has actual emotions and doesn't just plaster a smirk on her face." Clark didn't really filter what he was saying, he was just too upset to try and cope with Jaycee's antics.

Jaycee seemed baffled that Clark, a male, got mad at her. Apparently she was only used to jealous girls getting upset. Well, it serves her right. She doesn't get to prance around high school in her black boots throwing insults in everyone's faces.

Mrs. Roberson returned that moment, and she was carrying two bundles of gray clothes in her pudgy arms. She handed a bundle to each of them and simply said, "Change. There is a bathroom in there." She gestured to the other side of the room, where a small bathroom sat cramped in the corner.

Pointing to Jaycee, she said, "You go first." She then ushered Jaycee out of her chair and waved her into the bathroom.

Mrs. Roberson scurried to the medicine drawers, and then pulled out a disposable thermometer. She had to hold back Clark's thick red curls to get an accurate scan of his forehead. She swiped it slowly, and he just sat there awkwardly. When she was done with her scan, she told him that he didn't have a fever, so he didn't have to go home.

Since she had deemed him ok to be at school, he sat there, waiting for Jaycee to finish changing. She came out of the bathroom a few seconds later, and her nose was wrinkled at the sight of her new outfit.

She was currently wearing gray sweatpants and a baggy P.E. shirt. Jaycee had her dirty clothes tucked in a ball under her arm, and Mrs. Roberson threw a plastic bag at her. She stuffed the clothes in her bag and tied it off in a neat little knot.

After further looking over her outfit, she shrugged and sashayed back over to her chair next to Clark. Before she could sit down and talk to him again, Clark shuffled to the bathroom.

He was fitted with the same outfit. But, where it hugged Jaycee's picture-perfect curves perfectly, it hanged aimlessly off of him. Sure, she was a girl, so he didn't even have curves, but the main point was that she looked good and he looked like a doormat.

Clark took a deep breath, and appreciated that he no longer smelled barf on him, but the scent of generic soap. That made him feel much more comfortable. He turned around and faced the little mirror, scanning his face. His hair, of course, was a chaotic mess. Giant flame colored curls framed his pale face, which was sprinkled with light brown freckles. His eyes were huge, and they were green. Not exactly light or dark, but in between. Clark thought he looked like a male Raggedy Ann doll.

Once he left the cramped bathroom, he threw his smelly clothes into a plastic bag. He tied it, not wanting the putrid smell to waft through the hallways, letting everyone know that he threw up all over Jaycee Wayland. What was he talking about, there isn't a possible way that people _didn't_ know already.

Clark looked up, and he saw Jaycee sitting in the small metal chairs.

"Why are you still here?" he asked. Jaycee quirked her eyebrows up, and responded.

"I was waiting for you. You know, I'm sure that the rest of the boys at this school would die to have me wait for them to walk back to class. I normally just go," she explained, and then added with a smile, "I thought I would be nice and show you that I don't care that you barfed you guts out over me. We have to work together for the rest of the year in art, and we probably should learn to get along."

Clark thought for a little bit when she said this, and then he started laughing. Real laughing. He was cackling, this laugh was serious rolling-on-the-floor material. He was laughing at the circumstances of that day.

Two hours ago, he was trying to hide and disappear from Jaycee, and now, he was stuck as her partner for art... for the rest of junior year. This really is laughing material.

 **Okokokok so I'm going to try something new. It's going to be a review/ update system. Here is how it is going to work... 3 reviews = update in 2 weeks... 5 reviews = same week update... 8 reviews = update in 2 days... 10 reviews = 24 hour update**


	3. Chapter 3

Previously: _Two hours ago, he was trying to hide and disappear from Jaycee, and now, he was stuck as her partner for art... for the rest of junior year. This really is laughing material._

Clark's hair was a fiery blitz while he laughed. It was flinging all over his head (very _not_ Pantene style). His thin sides were shuddering, and his arms were wrapped around his stomach. Once the long strand of wheezing was coming to an end, he realized that his eyes were watering.

Jaycee didn't really know what to say. She has never seen anyone laugh this hard, except maybe for Alexis when she was a kid and they played pranks on their family members. So, she stood there with one hip jutted out automatically- she does it so often that the hip sits there whenever she stands still- and her head was slightly tilted.

She smoothed out the wrinkles in her cheerleading skirt while Clark composed himself.

"Done?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

All Clark did was perk up the corner of his mouth and walk away, he really loved setting her off. Apparently she isn't that used to it either, because she trailed behind him in silence. The only sound on the way back to class was the sound of Jaycee's shoes echoing through the hallway.

When they reentered, all heads turned to Clark, and Mr. Hodge stopped talking. One girl, he thinks her name is Mellie, wrinkles her nose and makes a weird snooty noise, causing Clark's cheeks to ignite, which was no doubt causing his face to be as red as his hair.

He shuffled back to his desk with his head down, using his thick curls as a shield between his face and the judging eyes of everyone else.

Meanwhile, Jaycee strode in behind him with an unreadable look on her face. Mr. Hodge continued the lesson when they both were seated.

"As you can see, Van Gogh manipulated the shadows in this piece to give the effect of solitude. There was only one student in this class who was able to perfectly execute the manipulation of shadows in their watercolor piece as well as Van Gogh." Mr. Hodge paused, leaving the students to stare at him with anticipation.

Clark, however, was focused on trying to become as small as he could in his chair, trying to avoid the menacing glances of practically everyone in the classroom. So, when Mr. Hodge called his name, he had no idea what was going on.

His eyes darted up to his teacher, and he tried to pull of a smile that said _Yes, I know exactly what you're talking about... could you just repeat it?_ But, clueless Mr. Hodge did not catch on, and he reached hand toward him as if he was waiting for Clark to give something to him.

Clark was frozen, not sure what he should do. Mr. Hodge had probably been standing like that for about three seconds, and it would have been more if Jaycee didn't grab Clark's watercolor painting and had put it in his outstretched hand.

"Well, uh, thank you Jaycee," Mr. Hodge chuckled. "As I was saying, class, this depiction of a coffee shop in deep fall is genius. Clark uses shadow to show the loneliness of the figure, who seems to be hiding from the rest of the crowd."

Mr. Hodge smiles at Clark and hands back the painting. Clark is smiling too, but it's more the kind of every-one-is-looking-at-me-again awkward smile. He shoves the paper into his backpack just as the class bell rings. Everyone starts to gather their things and leave, while Mr. Hodge is loudly explaining the next assignment.

By the time Clark gets up, Jaycee is looking at him. She hasn't moved, she was leaning back in her chair, her arms crossed over her uniform.

"Congrats Van Gogh. That was actually really good!" Jaycee said it as it he was a four year old who learned all of his rainbow words, but her eyes showed sincerity. _Is she actually being a bitch or am I going insane thinking that she is complimenting me,_ Clark thought. He was still trying to analyze her actions, partially stunned, as she got up and sauntered off to join her friends at lunch.

Clark shook his head, trying to forget the entire period, and went off to find Simone. Just as he was leaving, Mr. Hodge called after him.

"You should be really proud of that painting Clark. And I know Jaycee can be a little... bothersome, but I think it will be good for you to be partners. The first partner project is due next week. Good luck."

"Thanks Mr. Hodge," Clark murmured. He shifted his backpack to his other shoulder and quickly walked out, needing to talk to Simone right away.

Simone was sitting on an old bench under an oak tree, the place they have eaten lunch since their freshman year. It was relatively secluded, so they could talk without whatever they wanted with the quiet hum of everyone else on the quad not threatening to overhear.

She was eating a banana, and sipping on a bottle of water. "Hey there, stranger."

"So, so, so many things. Simone. Please tell me this is all a dream and you are my dream sidekick who will help me wake up from the dream," Clark said very quickly.

She took a swig, contemplated for a moment, and responded, "Uhh, sadly this is not a dream. And if it was, I highly doubt I would be the wimpy sidekick. Wimpy, yes... but not a sidekick. I'm thinking more of a loyal comrade. Yea, a comrade. Definitely. But in response, what did you do?"

"I may or may not have barfed all over Jaycee in the middle of art and now she's my art partner for the rest of the year..."

Simone spit out her water. This was not a choreographed spit take. Her eyes snapped open, and she released a typhoon of spit and water-mostly water- all over Clark and his new monotone grey outfit. Once her mouth was empty of all liquids, she started howling with laughter. For a really, really long time. Instead of interrupting her, Clark squeezed the water out of his baggy clothes, and shook his head to get out most of the droplets.

Simone took off her glasses to wipe the tears from her eyes, still giggling. Once she finally calmed down, she said, "Are you actually serious?"

"If I wasn't being serious, I would be laughing with you". He hung his head and grimaced. "Is it really that bad? Please say no."

"Oh no, it's bad. Very bad." Simone thought about it, and started cracking up once again. "Yea...you're screwed."

Clark shrugged off his backpack, and sat down next to Simone. He put his head in his hands and huffed. "I'm dropping out of school to become a male stripper. Thoughts?"

Simone handed him a granola bar. "As much as I would love to call you 'Cinnamon', you are way too awkward to be a stripper. You'll be fine, Clark. No one will remember this in a week."

Clark unwrapped the granola bar, and took a bite. "I really hope so." He looked down at the granola bar, and noticed that it was the same color as Jaycee's hair. Wait, was he seriously thinking about Jaycee's hair? The golden blonde curls that he barfed fruit all over? Apparently.

Clark's headache was still raging, and thinking about that whole incident made it worse. All he wanted to do was go home, take medicine, and then sleep for eternity

But, sadly, he had 3 more periods. Simone reached into her backpack, which was covered in gaming pins, and pulled out a little plastic baggie of pills. Clark's eyes grew wide.

"SIMONE YOU BETTER TELL ME THAT'S NOT DRUGS!" said Clark. Simone rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Technically, it is. But it's just Advil, calm yourself. Do you want it for your headache?"

Clark knitted his eyebrows together. "I never said I had a headache. How did you know?"

Simone smiled, and pushed her giant glasses up the bridge of her nose. "Clark, I've known you for literally a gazillion years, I can tell when you have a headache."

"Thanks, Simone." The bell rang as he swallowed down the medicine. They tossed on their backpacks and shuffled off to class, cracking jokes as they did so.

Long story short, no one at school forgot about 'the incident' in a week.

Once Clark got home, he flopped onto the couch and pulled a blanket up to his eyebrows. He could hear Jeremy's voice coming from another room.

"Hey kid how was school?" All Clark did in response was groan and pull the blanket down to his cheeks, so he could see Jeremy, covered in paint, standing next to the couch.

Jeremy chuckled. "That bad, huh?" Then, his fathering instincts kicked in and he looked at Clark closely, tilting his head as he did so. "Are you feeling okay? You don't look so hot."

Clark groaned again, but then explained. "No. Threw up in class and a monster headache. Help me before I disintegrate into the fabric of this couch." Jeremy chuckled and disappeared for five minutes. He brought over a tray of saltines, a giant bottle of water, and a small cup of orange juice.

"You're my savior," said Clark raspily. Over the next hour, he sipped at the water and munched on the crackers while watching a documentary about endangered monkeys. During a commercial break, Clark heard two sharp knocks at the door followed by one long one. This was the special knock Clark and Simone used to know who was at the door.

"Come in!" Clark yelled. He heard the _creak_ of the door and Simone's beaten up yellow converse stepping inside. Not that he could actually hear that her shoes were yellow, but she has worn the same shoes since sophomore year.

"Hey there Merida, how dead are you on a scale of one to ten," she said cheerily.

"One being good or one being bad?"

"One being the most lively you have ever been in your entire life, and ten being roadkill."

"Definitely ten. Maybe even eleven."

Simone raised her eyebrows up past the top of her glasses. "Wow. That's bad. NO WAY ARE YOU WATCHING THAT MONKEY DOCUMENTARY?" She flopped down on the couch next to Clark, ignoring all possibilities of future illness. She quickly tied up her hair into a giant messy chocolate bun on the top of her head, and threw half of Clark's blanket over her lap.

Clark scoffed. "Uhh, blanket hog much?"

"Yep. Now shut up, I want to watch the monkeys." She said this with a huge grin on her face.

The next day, Clark was too sick to go to school. Sometime that night after finishing the documentary and Simone going home, Clark lumbered to his room and fell asleep the second his head touched his pillow.

When he woke up that morning, he had a mild fever and a massive headache. He was probably up for approximately four minutes to assess his health, and then text Simone and say that he isn't going to school.

He fell back asleep, and woke up to Jeremy waking him up.

"Clark, there's someone here to see you." Clark was very confused. He really didn't have any other friends except for Simone, and Jeremy would let her wake him up by herself. So, he was at a loss for who could possibly be at the door. He got up slowly, and walked to the front door.

Through the glasswork in the door, he could see a golden blonde blob. His stomach dropped. _Maybe it's someone else with the same colored hair? Please let it be someone else with the same colored hair._ He opened the door, and his eyes blurred, not being used to the light. He heard a little giggle, and his worse fears were confirmed.

Jaycee Wayland was at his house. _HOW THE HELL DID SHE FIND MY HOUSE?_ Once his eyes focused, he could see that she was wearing some contraption of swirling dark blue fabric, which brought out the color of her skin and hair. Clark slapped himself internally. He then realized he's been standing in front of her for a solid ten seconds without saying anything.

"Hi?" His voice was scratchy and low.

Jaycee looked at him and cocked her head. It seemed that she was trying to analyze him, but she had an interesting look on her face. Clark couldn't put his finger on it. As soon as he saw it on her face, her expression changed.

"You have drool on your face," she said. "Right there." She pointed to his cheek. "Oh, and just so you don't think I'm a stalker, I asked Simone to tell me where you lived so I could talk to you about the art project."

He was dumbstruck. "Uh, okay? I'm sick today, can we talk about it tomorrow in class?" Jaycee tossed her hair over her shoulder, almost blinding Clark with a flash of gold. She gave him a killer smile and looked inside over his shoulder.

"Yea, nope. I have cheer practice tomorrow, so we are gonna do this now." She pushed past his shoulder and asked, "Now what does a girl have to do to get a glass of water around here?"

 **I'm back folks! Hope you enjoyed this extremely delayed update. You know the drill, review, review, review! I want to know how I can make this story the best it can be! Happy reading!**

 **Xoxo Maggie**


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